Packing machinery



y 9,1944. A. G. ROSE 2,348,650

PACKING MACHINERY Filed May 28, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L/ V i A TTOAIVEV May 9, 1944. A. G. ROSE 2,348,650

PACKING MACHINERY Filed May 28, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 26 L J I 7 INVENTOK: BY A G-R SE- ATTORNEYS Patented May 9, 1944 PACKING MACHINERY Alfred German Rose, Gainsborough, England,

assignor to Rose Brothers Limited, company (Gainsborough) Gainsborough, England, a British Application May 28, 1941, Serial No. 395,619 In Great Britain June 14, 1940 7 Claims.

This invention relates to packing machinery and more particularly to apparatus for closing and sealing fibre or cardboard boxes or like containers (hereinafter referred to as containers) of the type comprising a tubular body portion and end portions formed by first folding extensions of two opposed sides of the body portion (hereinafter referred to as inside flaps) at right angles to the sides of the body portion, and then completing the end portions by folding the remaining extensions (hereinafter referred to as outside flaps) on to the inside flaps.

The invention is concerned with the type of apparatus in which containers filled, for example, with small packages, are placed on a feed nism with the feed platform so that, as each container is fed on to the support, a pusher bar moves up to engage the rear face of the container and move it forward. The support is so arranged as to allow the outside flaps to fall slightly, while maintaining the inside flaps in substantially their normal folded position, so as to form a gap be-:

tween the outside flaps and the forward edge of the base of the container. From the support the containers are moved by the conveyor on to a base-supporting member disposed in the track of i the conveyor and arranged so that it passes into the above-mentioned gap to support the contents of the container by keeping the inside flaps in their folded position during subsequent outward folding of the outside flaps for the application of gum in preparation for the final sealing of the base of the container. It is an object of the present invention to provide, in apparatus of the above type, an improved means for controlling the inside flaps during the transfer of the containers from the support afore-. said tothe base-supporting member.

According to the present invention, there is provided in an apparatus of the type described; a base-supporting member formed with a movable nose portion adapted to be moved downwardly by the lower forward edge of a travelling container, the nose portion being disposed with its tip below the path of travel of said edge of the container and having a container-contacting surface extending from its tip to a point sufficiently above the plane of the base-supporting member to cause the tip to be moved to a position below the forward edge of the rear inside flap of the container.

The nose-portion is preferably rounded for easy entry into the gap and may have a longitudinal cross-section substantially in the form of a righangled triangle, the surface of the nose portion containing the hypotenuse of the triangle being the container-contacting surface. The nose portion may be attached to the base-supporting member by means of a leaf spring so as to be capable of being deflected downwardly by the containers against the action of the spring.

A base-supporting member constructed in accordance with the present invention is particularly useful when dealing with containers in which the outside flaps are each of substantially the same area as the base of the container and are arranged to overlap. In such a case, the outside flaps are prevented from falling to any appreciable extent when passing over the support aforesaid because the free end of the outermost j flap rests on the support; and in order to provide the container at a distance apart slightly less than the width of the container so that, as the container is pushed through th'e'compressing members by the conveyor, the base of the container is nipped between the compressing members and the flaps are caused'to buckle downwardly and thus form a gap between themselves and said edge of the container. Thus, there may be provided, on each side of the conveyor track. a series of rollers freely rotatable about parallel axes, the axes of the two series of rollers converging towards points beneath the conveyor track. This compressing of the sides of the container, however, also causes the inside flaps to buckle and leave the forward edge of the rear 7 inside flap liable to pass beneath the nose of the base-supporting member and thus be folded backwards instead of being maintained in its proper folded position. The movable nose portion overcomes this difficulty since the lower forward edge of the container deflects the tip of the nose portion downwardly to a position below the forward edge of the rear inside flap so that the flap is caused to slide on to the base-supporting member in its proper folded position.

By way of example, the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of the feed end of an apparatus for closing and sealing previously filled containers,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view, drawn to an enlarged scale, of part of the apparatus shown in Figure I, viewed in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1,

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of part of the apparatus shown in Figure l, and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing the apparatus at a later stage of the operation.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, containers II having their bottom flaps loosely folded to form the base of the container are placed on a feed belt I2 driven from a shaft I3 by means of chain and sprocket gearing I4, the upper lap of the feed belt I2 being supported on a series of rollers I6. The belt I2 carries the containers forward and deposits them on a support consisting of two sets of inclined rollers I'I disposed in the track of a conveyor consisting of a pair of parallel chains I8 connected by transverse pusher bars I9. The rollers I1 are set at progressively lower levels in the direction of movement of the containers so that each container deposited on to the rollers moves forward by gravity until a pusher bar I9 makes contact with the rear face of the container to carry it forward.

The belt I2 carries the containers II between pairs of side guides 2| to one pair of which is attached a leaf spring 22 which urges the containers towards the opposite side guides 2i, and as the containers move forward they meet a stop 23 which prevents further movement of the containers until a pusher 29, operating in timed relation to the movement of the conveyor chain I8, moves transversely of the path of the containers to push the container held by the stop clear of the stop so as to allow the belt IE to for- V ward the container and deposit it on to the rollers IT. The timing of the pusher 24 is such that as each container I I is deposited on to the rollers I1 a pusher bar I9 moves up behind the container to carry it into the closing and sealing apparatus.

Disposed slightly in advance of the rollers I1 is a pair of compressing members each consisting of a pair of inclined rollers 26 and 21, these rollers being inclined at a much steeper angle than the rollers I! (see Figure 3). The rollers 26 and 21 are disposed at such a distance apart that the base of the carton is nipped between the rollers (for a purpose to be described later), the rollers 26 lying at a slightly greater angle to the vertical than that of the angle of the rollers 21 so that the nipping of the container is done gradually.

Before the bases of the containers can be sealed, the outside flaps have to be folded outwardly for the application of gum and during this operation the contents of the container are supported by the inside flaps as the container moves into the closing and sealing apparatus along a base-supporting member 3| having a width that is small in relation to that of the container, say one third the width of the container. In order to allow of the outward folding of the outside flaps, therefore, it is necessary to produce a gap between the forward edge of the base of the container and the outside flaps so that the outside flaps can pass below the basesupporting member 3I which is rounded as shown in Figure 2 to facilitate its entry into the gap. This is brought about in the following manner.

The container illustrated in Figures 3 to 5 is of the type in which the outside flaps 36 and 31 are each of substantially the same area as the base of the container and are arranged to overlap as shown in Figure 3. As the container passes along the rollers I1 the overlapped flaps will not fall to any appreciable extent but as the container is pushed through the rollers 26 and 21 the base of the container is nipped between the rollers and the flaps are caused to buckle downwardly as shown in Figure 3 thus forming a gap 38 between themselves and the forward edge 39 of the container. With the gap 38 thus formed, it will be seen that further movement of the container causes it to slide on to the basesupporting member 3|, the nose portion II of which has its tip 42 disposed at a slightly lower level than the forward edge 39 but at a higher level than the central portion of the buckled flaps 36 and 31 so that as the container moves forward the nose portion 4| enters the gap 38.

The nose portion 4| is attached to the base supporting member 3| by means of a leaf spring 43 and has a curved upper surface which extends from the tip 42 to its rear edge 44 which lies above the general plane of the base-supporting member 3i. As the container moves forward, therefore, its forward edge 39 causes the nose portion 4! to be deflected downwardly (see Figure 5) so that, as the rear flap 46 passes through the rollers 26 and 21 and is thus caused to buckle downwardly, the forward edge of the flap strikes the upper surface of the nose portion 4| which guides the flap back to its normal position as it moves out of the influence of the rollers 26 and 21. A lip 41 is provided on the nose portion 4! to prevent the upper edge 44 from being deflected below the level of the base-supporting member 3 I.

The containers thus pass on to the base-supporting member 3| with the inside flaps in their folded position supporting the contents of the container and the outside flaps hanging downwardly in preparation for their subsequent outward folding for the application of gum. The containers then pass to folding and gumming apparatus (not shown) which folds and seals 1. In an apparatus of the type described, a

' container support, a base-supporting member arranged to receive containers successively from said support, means for causing the containers to move successively along said support towards said base-supporting member, said support consisting of two platforms disposed one on each side of the path of travel of said containers and arranged to guide said containers towards said base-supporting member, said platforms having their container-contacting surfaces arranged to converge towards a point below the level of the container base so as to support each successive container by its edges and thus allow the outside flaps of said container to incline downwardly to form a gap between themselves and the base of said container, and a nose portion movably mounted on said base-supporting member and provided with an inclined upper surface extending from a point below the path followed by the lower forward edge of each container during its guidance by said platforms towards said basesupporting-member, so as to allow said nose portion to pass into the gap aforesaid, to a point sufficiently above the base-supporting plane of the base-supporting member to cause the lower forward edge of the container, during its passage from the container support aforesaid to said base-supporting member, to engage said inclined upper surface and by such engagement cause said nose portion to move downwardly into such a position that it forms a guide for folding the rear inside flap of the container into closed position so as to be properly received by said base-supporting member.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nose portion is resiliently mounted on the basesupporting member to allow of the downward movement of the nose portion and to cause it to return to its normal up position after the passage of each container.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nose portion is mounted on a leaf spring to allow of the downward movement of the nose portion and to cause it to return to its normal up position after the passage of each container.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, and means to limit the downward movement of the nose portion.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, and a pair of compressing members disposed in the path followed by the lower forward edge of each container during its passage from the container support to the base-supporting member, said compressing members being spaced apart a distance slightly less than the width of the container so as to nip the base of the container and by such nipping cause the flaps of the container to buckle and thus form a gap between thember, said support consisting of two sets of rollers disposed one on each side of the path of travel of said containers and arranged to guide said containers towards said base-supporting member. said sets of rollers having their axes arranged to converge towards a point below the level of the container base so as to support each successive container by its edges and thus allow the outside flaps of said container to incline downwardly to form a gap between themselves and the base of said container, and a nose portion movably mounted on said base-supporting member and provided with an inclined upper surface extending from a point below the path followed by the lower forward edge of each container during its guidance by said rollers towards said base-supporting member, so as to allow said nose portion to pass into the gap aforesaid, to a point sufliciently above the base-supporting plane of the base-supporting member to cause the lower forward edge of the container, during its passage from the container support aforesaid to said base-supporting member, to engage said inclined upper surface and by such engagement cause said nose portion to move downwardly into such a position that it forms a guide for folding the rear inside flap of the container into closed position so as to be properly received by said basesupporting member.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, and a pair of compressing members disposed in the path followed by the lower forward edge of each container during its passage from the container support to the base-supporting member, said compressing members being spaced apart a distance slightly less than the width of the container so as to nip the base of the container and by such nipping cause the flaps of the container to buckle and thus form a gap between themselves and said edge of the container so as to allow of the entry of the nose portion.

ALFRED GERMAN ROSE. 

